Just when you thought it was safe to come out of the root cellar, along comes Grainstorm, a big, wet wallop to the senses. In the glass, dark and turbulent clouds gather. A high-pressure system of pungent hops collides with a stationary front of barley, wheat, and rye. The forecast: a veritable monsoon of flavor, with surges of roasty malt, microbursts of hops, and a chance of golfball-sized hail. The extended outlook calls for unseasonably pleasant enjoyment.

Wow....one of the best beers I've had...very happy to have had the chance to have it on tap. The beer poured an opaque black with thick ecru head that laced like a vicki secret catalog all the way down the brady sniffer glass. The scent was fresh hop with pine being a bit most potent than the citrus which tied in nicely with the burnt malt backdrop. The taste was a beautiful balance between the hops and roasty rye with kept the pallat clear after the pull. The mouthfeel was medium to full in body with smooth carbonation. The best thing about this beer was that it was under 8%...making it sessionable!!! I could have sat at that table all night long!

I had this beer as a "test batch" brew at the brewery following a brewery tour. They said they were announcing it's release soon, so when I heard the official name, I decided to be the first to review it here.

Poured from the tap fresh at the brewery into a 5 oz. tasting glass.

This beer pours black. Start black. It's neat, because you can see bits of carbonation carrying the yeast particles to the head, which is a small, cream/tan color. This beer left a moderate amount of lacing on the glass as it was slowly consumed.

The color is deceiving. This brew doesn't smell like coffee, doesn't smell like chocolate. It smells like a fine IPA, with great floral hops, with one difference: it's made with rye. Rye is spicy, yet sweet, and really hardy, or I guess husky smelling. It smells boastful, very full. The Rye smells a bit toasted, and not very sweet.

This beer tastes very much how it looks. Great rye spice, yet very sweet and full bodied. No rye barrels here- this is nothing like the Rye-on-Rye Smokestack Boulevard previously released. It's hoppy, with a good malt backbone that's certainly not too thick. Perfectly balanced.

Mouthfeel was superb for an IPA, perhaps aided by the rye. Despite being a hefty 7.7%, and rye, and hoppy, I found this beer fairly drinkable.